A 9-year-old
Chicago boy was lured into an alley and gunned down because of his father’s
gang ties, police say.

Tyshawn Lee was targeted by his killer
and shot Monday (November 2, 2015) afternoon in the city’s South Side near his
grandmother’s housem police said. He “was murdered in probably the most
abhorrent, cowardly, unfathomable crime that I’ve witnessed in 35 years of
policing,” police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said Thursday at a press
conference.

“This
is not a stray bullet, not a drive-by — this is multiple gunshots to a child
and only that one person shot,” Reverend Michael Pfleger told the Chicago Sun-Times. “There’s
no question that this is targeted and that it’s an execution.”

The shooting
happened at about 4:15 p.m., police said. Police said they are still
investigating.

“We
believe that this is the most recent in a series of gang-related, violent
events,” McCarthy said.

Tyshawn’s
father, Pierre Stokes, 25, told reporters he does not believe he is the reason
his son was killed.

“I
don’t believe it’s retaliation because I never did nothing for nobody to hurt
my son,” Stokes said
Thursday.

Photographs of Tyshawn Lee are on display at
his visitation at Haven of Rest church in the South Chicago neighborhood Nov.
9, 2015.